Abacus Planning Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,855 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,514,000 after buying an additional 29,198,846 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after buying an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.4 %

BAC stock opened at $40.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.23 and its 200 day moving average is $38.26. The stock has a market cap of $316.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 33.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,609,567 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,483,669 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.07.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.